The Unforseen
by RyuuOkami-Kun
Summary: Naruto receives a mission to go to Sunagakure in disguise, and when he gets there, he finds that The Sand is secretly in a state of chaos! Can he help, while keeping his true identity a secret from one of his closest friends? And what is the attack that Gaara preparing against? Pairings: Naruto/Gaara and Naruto/Sasuke Possibly rated M
1. Mission recieved!

Naruto shut the Hokage's door, a bit pissed. Sure, he had just been a mission that was relatively easy to understand; incognito, infiltration, and all that good stuff, but he had to go as a girl. A freaking girl. He could understand where Tsunade was coming from, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Naruto shut his eyes and imagined himself dressing up as a girl; he would be wearing girl underwear, girl top, and probably a skirt. Him, Uzumaki Naruto, flaunting around the village in a miniskirt, with nothing underneath it but the girly underwear, and then there would also be a breeze blowing around down there… he shuddered. Surely, he could complete this mission without showing off his manhood to others, even if he was in his Sexy-Ninjutsu form. Tsunade might not understand his reasoning, but Naruto would not go around like that. He refused to do so. In fact, now that he thought about it, he could simply refuse to be a girl at all. Maintaining his Sexy-Ninjutsu that long was no problem, the problem was going around like that permanently would make him seem like some old perverted geezer; like Pervy-Sage, for example. He had a sudden bad mental image of Pervy-Sage doing Sexy-Ninjutsu, and almost gagged. He immediately turned to Tsunade's door. He would _not_ be a girl.

The door hit the wall loudly as Naruto opened it, causing Tsunade to look up from her paperwork. She sighed, exasperated, as he stormed up to her desk, shuffling her papers into neat piles.

"I refuse." Naruto said firmly.

"Refuse what?"

"On the mission, to be a girl! I won't do it!"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? You need too."

"Why?! Give me a good reason to go to the sand wearing a bra and skirt. What if Gaara recognizes me?!" Naruto almost yelled out the last part.

Tsunade snorted at him with annoyance. "He won't. That's the point. As I've told you, this is a covert operations mission. Your reputation as Uzumaki Naruto is too well known, especially as the guy who saved their Kazekage. You'd be recognized immediately if you just waltzed into their village."

"I can just say I want to see Gaara." He said stubbornly.

"Yea. Go ahead and try that. Just don't drag me into it when they catch you. Look Naruto," she paused here and glared at him, daring him to interrupt, "if you go as you are now, people will be curious what you're doing. You could be followed, and people will be especially wary of you, being the famous Uzumaki Naruto and all. Any odd business from you would be reported, and then you'd fail the mission. So obviously, a disguise is needed, someone unlike you."

"Why not send someone else?" he countered. "after all, 'and people will be especially wary of me.'".

"Every ones busy, and besides, you wouldn't want someone else to do this particular mission, would you?" She looked at him smugly.

"No, I guess not, but still…" He paused, and then suddenly flashed a quick grin as an idea came to him. "So, any disguise, right? Someone unlike me?"

Tsunade looked at him warily. She had seen that grin, and had an idea what it meant. "Yes. That's why a girl is preferable."

"Preferable, but not necessary." He flashed another foxy grin at her.

Tsunade stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"So, say something like a gothic or emo guy. That would work, right? After all, it is unlike me."

Tsunade looked at him for a while. It could actually work. She ran a hand through her hair, looking for any possible problems, and then she found one.

"You'd have to change your entire personality for that role. You need to be a good actor. Can you do it?"

"Yes, I know I can. I have gotten the hang of the depressed, lonely attitude in those beginning years, ya know?" He grinned at her ruefully, remembering his sad childhood.

She nodded, understanding what he was saying. "Alright, that works. Give me a summary of your mission."

"Yes! I am to travel to Sunagakure, three days travel from here, under a disguise of an ambassador checking up on the alliance, while actually looking for any secret activity that might take place. We have reason to believe that Sunagakure is having secret meetings with an unknown group." Naruto said enthusiastically. He was glad to finally get a chance to get away from the village.

"Very good." Tsunade nodded, pleased. "We also have to deal with your appearance. I think I know someone who will know what to do." She bit her thumb, drawing out a drop of blood, and placed it on her desk in one of the few clear spaces. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." She muttered. Immediately there was the small burst of white smoke, and when it cleared away, there was a slug sitting there.

"Katsuyu," she said to the slug, "go get Ino and tell her to come here immediately." Another burst of smoke and Katsuyu disappeared.

"Ino? Will she know what to do for my appearance?" asked Naruto, a bit surprised.

"Hopefully. We'll ask her to design your costume, name, makeup, and whatever else."

"What?! Makeup?!" He was horrified. He had just escaped having to go as a girl, but he still had to wear makeup?

Tsunade smiled wickedly at him. "Oh yes. I can bet you'll be wearing makeup…" she paused for a dramatic effect, "…every day." Just then there was a knock on the door. "Come in." she said, smiling evilly at him before turning her attention to Ino, who had just entered.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" She asked, s bit apprehensive upon seeing Naruto there as well.

"Ino, Naruto has been assigned a mission which requires him to go incognito. We decided upon the gothic look. Do you think you can do it?"

Ino came closer to Naruto, inspecting him. She examined his hair, its texture, length, everything she could find. She looked him up and down, probably thinking about the clothes which she would assign to him. She nodded slowly, still looking. "I think I can do it. It's just up to Naruto to coöperate with it."

"Do you have a plan?" Naruto asked worriedly. He didn't like Ino looking at him like an experiment.

She nodded more enthusiastically this time. "Yep! We can grow your hair out till it reaches your shoulders, and put you in a dark themed outfit. I know where to get all the stuff I need."

Naruto looked pleadingly at Tsunade one last time. However, she ignored the pitiful looks her sent her way and continued to talk with Ino

.

"Growing the hair out will take months. Do you have another plan? He has to leave in five or six days at the most."

"Don't worry, Tsunade-sama! I just need around 4 days alone with him. It's a jutsu I invented a while ago. Basically, it's just transferring ones chakra to the hair, and it's not hard or anything."

Tsunade looked at her for a while, and then nodded her consent. Naruto groaned audibly. These two were pure evil.


	2. The New Naruto!

Naruto looked around the small room, pure white walls, ceiling, beds, everything. The thought of spending the next four days in here was utterly depressing, even if had Ino to keep him company. He sighed and walked over to one of the beds, kicking off his sandals and plopped down on it.

"Right. Naruto, Ino, this is your temporary residence while Naruto's hair growing. I trust that you know what to do, Ino?" Tsunade looked at Ino, who nodded. "I'll bring you guys meals 3 times a day, and I have also told the staff in the hospital not to come in here no matter what. You two are not to come out unless it's a dire emergency. The bathroom is over there." She pointed to a far corner of the room, where a door stood, just as white as the rest of the room. "Do you guys need anything before I go?"

"Yea. Why do we need to spend four days in here? It's going to kill us of boredom! Why can't we stay at my house? There's no-one there." Naruto blurted while Ino nodded in agreement with him.

"Precautions, Naruto. There is less risk of discovery, which means questions. If that's all, I'm leaving now." Tsunade turned to the door behind her, opened it, and walked out, closing it behind her. Her footsteps were audible, fading away as she walked down the hall outside.

"Man, this sucks…What are we supposed to do here?" Naruto whined, lying down on the bed.

"I couldn't agree less, but we might as well get started on your hair." Ino said, walking over to the bed.

Naruto grumbled and sat up scooting closer to Ino. She placed her elegant hands on his head, closing her eyes and muttered something under her breath. All at once, Naruto felt a sharp tingling all over his head, which quickly faded away to something barely noticeable. There was a pause, and then Naruto suddenly took in a sharp breath as quick wave nausea rolled over him, and put his hand up to his mouth.

"God, Ino. What have you down?" He said weakly.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm-"another wave of nausea and he clenched his teeth, waiting for it to pass before he continued. "I'm not feeling so well…"

"Oh. That's most likely my chakra going into your system. It doesn't react well with some people. Has no one else ever transferred some of their chakra to you?" She asked in disbelief.

"Even if they did, I never felt like this."

"Well, it'll pass quickly. Your system just has to get used to mine. Of course, if I kept my chakra in you for a long time, there would be some side effects, or permanent changes. I don't know what though." She removed her hands from his head and took a step back, examining him. "You should probably lie down, if you didn't know." She added, seeing him turn a bit green.

He shot her a glare. "Thanks for your advice, captain obvious…" He mumbled, rotating himself on the bed and then lying down. "So, what's going on? Is it growing now?"

"Yea. I've established a connection of sorts, which keeps a small stream of my chakra steadily flowing into the roots of your hairs. You didn't think that I would stand there, holding your head all day and night, did you?"

"It's not like anyone has ever done something like this to me before. How am supposed to know what to expect?"

"Yea, whatever. I'm going to back to bed. If you feel sick again, try not to wake me up, okay?" Ino turned around and walked off to her bed, on the other side of the room.

"What a great roommate…" He muttered sarcastically, looking up to the ceiling. Luckily, she didn't hear him.

True to her word, Tsunade continuously brought them meals, which were good enough. Apparently she got them from the hospitals cafeteria. Naruto, who had recovered from his temporary sickness, would shovel down the food while Ino gossiped with Tsunade.

Three days later, when Naruto asked her about what their friends thought about their disappearance, she replied that she had told everyone that she had sent the two of them of on a mission together, and that they might want to think of a convincing story to tell in case anyone asked.

"You couldn't think of anything better, Obaa-chan?" he said playfully.

She responded by chucking a crumpled up wad of paper at him.

He opened up the paper ball, after Tsunade had left, and smoothed it out, thinking perhaps she had written some important note or hint on it. He was sadly disappointed, as it was just a blank old piece she had crumpled up.

"Thanks, Tsunade. You're so helpful." He said angrily, crumpling it back up. He tossed it a wall, and then looked away innocently as Ino glared at him.

"Be quiet, will ya? You're not the only one who tired of being stuck in here," She snapped at him, "but at least we only have to wait one more day!"

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"Lose track of time?" She snorted impatiently. "Tomorrow morning is when ill cut the connection and deal with your make over, so settle down."

True, he had lost track of time, but he was just so tired of this little room. Ino would always snap at him if he was too loud, fidgety, anything that caught her attention, and there was nothing to do here. He ran his hand through his hair, which was about halfway down his neck, and pulled out a couple of knots in it. Having long hair was such a bother, as it required a thorough brushing every day, and it always fell into his face. He didn't blame Ino for wearing hers in a ponytail all the time. Once he completed his mission, he would definitely revert back to his old hair.

Naruto was rudely awakened the following morning by being roughly shaken by a grumpy Tsunade. He mumbled incoherently and rolled over, away from the source that had disturbed him.

"Get up! Up! Up already you lazy bums! If I had to get up early this morning, so do you." She growled.

Naruto's jerked under his blankets open as something squishy hit him on the cheek. He yawned and slowly sat up rubbing his eyes, mumbling some more. He opened one eye, still rubbing the other, to see Tsunade now whacking Ino with the pillow, telling her to get out of bed. When Ino continued to sleep peacefully, Tsunade put the pillow down and put her hands on Ino's shoulders, pushing her out of her bed. As was to be expected, Ino let out a small yelp as she hit the cold floor, eyes flying open.

"Oww." Ino rubbed her side ruefully, and then looked apprehensively at Tsunade. "Yes, Tsunade-sama? What is it?"

"It's Naruto's test day, remember? While Naruto go takes a shower," Here, she glanced meaningfully at him, "you and I will get the stuff we planned for him. I've already bought what you told me to, so well just go pick it up from my office."

Ino nodded, getting up to change into her day clothes, while Naruto got his stuff for his shower and went into the bathroom.

Around an hour or two later, Ino had finally finished with him. It had been a long process, as she had to style his hair, dye it, run around collecting different clothes for him too change into, and then to finally do his makeup and the finishing touches. So now, Naruto was standing in front of a tall floor mirror, staring at his reflection.

"It's not exactly the Goth look, but it works out rather well." said Ino smugly, hands on her hips and examining him with a critical eye.

"Ino, its…it's really amazing! I can't believe it's me!" Naruto said in disbelief. He continued to stare at himself, soaking in his reflection. He was wearing tight black leather pants, with a couple silver studs in them, which showed off his long lean legs, finely honed by years of training. His feet were encased in knee high, black, plat formed boots that had intricate silver designs in them, winding around his calf, and when he moved his leg, the buckles that run all the way up the outside of the boots glinted in the light. His torso was being hugged by a sleek, midnight blue, V-necked, sleeveless shirt that rippled along his skin, catching the light and throwing it around. Around his neck was fine silver chain with a silver miniature ninja star hanging from it, a dark blue sapphire in the middle, and in his ears he wore a matching set of earrings. Ino had layered his hair from the ears down so that it lightly framed his face, and matched the curve of his neck. She had died the ends pure black with the very tips died metallic silver, fading quickly from blonde. He still had bangs, though they were longer and were slightly brushed to the side. Ino had covered up his whiskers so that they were no longer visible. He reached up a finger and lightly touched the place where they had been previously. He felt a small pang of sorrow, but quickly brushed it away. They were still there, and it was important that they weren't seen during this mission. He looked at his eyes in the mirror, which were thickly lined with black, and accented with silver around the corners. The bright blue of his eyes was strongly brought out, and was almost mesmerizing. He looked away from his reflection and turned to Ino.

"Whats with the high heels? Isn't it a little...feminine?"

"Youre creating your own style. Ill teach you how to put on the makeup later."

"Oh...That works. So, you want to go show people now? Walk around the village and see if I'm recognizable?" He asked, grinning mischievously.

Ino grinned back at him. "Hell yes. I've been waiting for this for four days." She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door that led to the waiting world outside.


	3. Kakashi knows?

Sorry i didn't upload for awhile! this chapters longer than the other ones, so it took me awhile!

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Naruto grinned inwardly as he strode down the street, Ino at his side. His hair fluttered out behind him, smooth, silky, and sometimes appearing silver in the different lightings. It was the hair that any girl would kill for, and now it was his. People would stare at him as he went passed, but no one made any moves since Ino was at his side. They were using the pretense that she was his girlfriend, and it worked well as no one doubted it. They simply appeared as a beautiful, young couple on a date. He adjusted the sunglasses Ino had given him before they left. They too, like everything else he wore, were stylish and added to his characters image. They hadn't talked much all morning, but now Ino tugged at his arm, pointing to a shop.

"Let's go in there. I have some clothing items we need to get for you, and we also need to buy you a couple days' worth for you to change into."

He nodded, and turned to the store looked at the sign hanging above, fancily engraved upon cherry wood:

Lady Saruna's Fancy Clothing.

For all occasions.

"Sounds fancy. You sure?"

"Don't worry. I go here all the time, and besides, this is where Tsunade-sama picked up the outfit you're currently wearing. Come on." She pulled his arm, leading him inside.

A little bell tinkled as they opened the door, and a black haired lady appeared behind the checkout counter beside them. She had dressed herself in a sparkly green dress with matching high heels, and smiled at them as they closed the door.

"Well, if it isn't Ino-Chan! Come on in." She then turned to Naruto and smiled at him as well. "Nice to meet you, friend of Ino, I'm Saruna. Ino will know where anything you need is, so I'll leave you in her hands." She bowed and disappeared into a separate room behind her desk.

"She's quite nice." He said, still looking at the place where she had disappeared.

"Of course. She has to be nice to get any business. Come on, I know what we need." Ino started looking through racks of clothing that stood everywhere, feeling them, looking at their tags, and holding them up until she found ones that met her requirement. After a while she pushed a pile of clothes onto him that consisted of everything that would work with him.

"Try them on, and show them to me after each one. I know there's a lot, but we're not leaving until we look at them all. Changing rooms are over there." She pointed to the back of the store where five doors were visible side by side, past all the hundreds of clothing items.

Naruto groaned and started over; taking care not to lose any of clothes she had shoved onto him.

"How much stuff does a guy need?" He whined.

"Someone like you? A lot. Now get going." Ino replied, following him to the door.

Around two hours later, Naruto and Ino walked out of the store laden with bags full of clothes. Naruto was now wearing, in addition to the outfit he had on earlier, a long, black, sleek trench coat style coat that had silver trimmings on the edges and silver buckles going down the front that would keep it closed if he wanted to buckle it all up. He had found black belt that had an electric blue dragon winding around itself printed on it, with fine silver chains dangling from it, and Ino was fine with him wearing it, so had put it on happily, proud of his great find.

The bags were way too heavy to carry around, so they stopped by Naruto's house to drop them off, before heading out to have lunch at Ichirakus Ramen stand. They spent the rest of the day walking around the town before heading back to Tsunade's office to report on the day's events. As they were walking down the curving hall leading to her office, Naruto accidentally bumped into some one.

"Ah. Sorry mister." Naruto looked around to see Kakashi staring at him. Naruto felt Ino stiffen next to him, and started to walk to Tsunade's office, when he felt someone grab his arm. He gritted his teeth and slowly looked around at Kakashi who was still holding his arm.

"You…Do I know you?" Kakashi asked, trying to see behind his sunglasses.

"No. I've never met you." Naruto replied coolly.

"Are you a new recruit? "

"Yes. I am. Now if you don't mind, could I have my arm back?"

Kakashi ignored him and continued to look at him, debating something inside his head. "You're not a new recruit. I can tell."

God, Kakashi was creeping him out right now. "Good. You're intelligent. Now if you don't mind, I really have to go."

Kakashi let go of his arm this time. "Who are you? I feel like I should know this."

Ino stepped In front of Naruto and looked at Kakashi. "Please, sensei. He's a friend of mine. We're going to Tsunade's to report on a mission."

He looked at her in surprise. "I thought you were on a mission with Nar-" His visible eye widened as he pieced two and two together. He quickly looked to Naruto, comparing things about this guy and the previous Naruto. "Ah. I see now. You changed a lot, Naruto."

Crap. That was the only thing Naruto could think right now. "Crap…" He muttered.

Ino sighed. "We were almost done, too. I guess you should come with us, sensei. Well explain it to you on the way."

When they reached Tsunade's, Naruto pushed the door open, really annoyed. Of all people he had to run into Kakashi, his former team captain. He stomped up to Tsunade's desk, Ino and Kakashi following him. Tsunade looked up at him in surprise.

"Well, Ino, you've done a good job on him. I wouldn't recognize him if I didn't know, but what's he doing here?" she gestured to Kakashi, who wasn't looking so confused anymore since Ino had explained it all to him.

"He's too smart for his good. He saw Ino next to me and realized who I was." Naruto said grumpily.

"Oh? You realize what this means?" Tsunade asked.

"Please, Tsunade! Don't make me be a girl!" He pleaded anxiously.

"A girl?" Ino asked in surprise. "Why would you have to be a girl?"

"My mission was originally to be a girl for this mission, but I had convinced Tsunade out of it. This test day was, as you knew, to see if I would be recognized, but if I was, I would have to be a girl, which was the part you didn't know."

Ino took pity on Naruto since he sounded so miserable. "Tsunade-sama, I think you should understand that Kakashi recognized him only because of the fact that I was there. He thought that me and Naruto were on mission, so when I said we were reporting to you about a mission we had just finished, he then recognized him as Naruto. As I'm not going to be there with Naruto on his mission, I don't think he will be recognized by anyone, since we tested that in the village today. We walked around the streets together, and no one recognized him."

"Together? When you were supposed to be on a mission, Ino?" Tsunade shook her head at Ino's blunder.

"Don't worry about that. I told people my part of the mission was done."

"You're sure no one recognized you, Naruto?"

"Positive." He said, beginning to see a ray of hope.

"Very well then. Ino, your part here is done, but you can see Naruto off tomorrow if you wish. Naruto, meet me at the main gate tomorrow as I have some papers to give you before you go. Kakashi, I have to talk to you about something. You two can go now." She waved a hand at Ino and Naruto, dismissing them.

Naruto closed the door behind them, and then looked at Ino as they walked down the hall to the entrance. "Are you going to see me off tomorrow?" He asked her curiously.

"Perhaps. I put all this work into you, so I guess that gives me a reason to go."

Naruto laughed at her. "Perhaps. Well, that's something."

"Ugh. I wish I hadn't said anything." She said as Naruto laughed again. "Anyway, I'm going to go to your house with you and teach you how to put on your makeup, so I wouldn't be laughing if I were you."

That immediately shut Naruto up. "I thought you'd forgotten." He said, pushing the double doors open and stepping out into the dark street. "Damn. I hadn't realized it was this late." He pulled up his sunglass and put them on top of his head.

"Teaching you how to do your makeup is going to take a while. Let's go." Ino said impatiently.

They had probably only been walking for a minute when they were stopped by a drunken yell across the street.

"Hey honey! Why dontcha ditch 'andsome there an' came with us!" A guy slurred, standing next to another drunken buddy.

Naruto and Ino stopped and looked around at the two guys. They couldn't see much in the lighting, but they were obviously too drunk to think straight. In other words, not much of a problem if it came to a fight. One of them cat-whistled at her as the other laughed stupidly.

"Go away!" Ino called, obviously bored of them.

"Ah, now now, Honey don't mean that." They started to lurch drunkenly across the street, stumbling at cracks in the stones and grabbing each other for support.

Naruto glared at them, daring them to come closer.

Even with their minds in the befuddled state they were in, they still had a bit of sense, and it was currently telling them one thing; run away. Even half way across the street, they could make out the blonde guys expression, and it wasn't nice. The bright blue eyes, defined by the black and silver surrounding them, were glinting dangerously saying 'No matter how bad you think you are, I'm worse.' They halted in the middle of the street staring uncomprehendingly at him. They weren't sure if it was just the alcohol playing tricks on them, but they thought they saw little red sparks dancing through his eyes lighting up the blue, and his once blonde hair was looking silver. One guy muttered something to the other and they quickly stumbled off, eager to leave the scary blond dude.

Naruto glared at them until they were swallowed up by the darkness, and then turned to Ino, Expression returning to normal.

"Idiots." He mumbled. "You okay?"

"Uh, yea, but…wow. You were impressive." She said, obviously a bit amazed.

"Oh, um, thanks. It's all your work though. I couldn't have pulled it off without your whole…makeover thing." He grinned sheepishly at her.

Ino shook her head. He had no idea what had just happened there, but all the same, she looked at him with new found respect. "You know what? You'll do great on your mission tomorrow." She gave him the most open smile he'd seen yet, her white teeth glowing in the gathering darkness.

He grinned at her. "Come on Ino-Chan, weren't you going to teach me how to do my make up?"

The entire warm, fuzzy atmosphere that had existed earlier was quickly fading as Ino got more and more annoyed with him as he failed to put the makeup on right.

"Not like that! You don't just rub the powder on like there's no tomorrow! Do it softly! Follow the curves of your face!" She tapped her foot impatiently as he washed his face and restarted. "No! I can still see your whiskers!" Naruto put some more on, carefully rubbing it. "Ugh! What did I just tell you! Follow the curves of your face!" She put her hand up to her face impatiently. "No no no. You put too much on again. Start over." She watched as Naruto washed his face off again and started over. "Yes, good. Just like that. Now, pick up the eyeliner, no not that! That's just a normal pencil! Yes, that one. Now, holding the skin of your upper lid taut, trace the upper lashes from the inside of the eye with the pencil. Good. Just like- no! Not like that! Just trace! Don't color in like your using a crayon! Yes. Like that. Now, get the silver one, yes, that's the one, and trace the outer corner with it." She watched as he moved closer to the mirror to see better. "Put your elbows on the table if you want. That can help. Just the outside…yes. Like that. Good! Finally! Let me see." She took his face in her hands and turned his head side to side, looking from different s angles. "Perfect. You finally got it. Remember to wash your face off each night, and then put it on again each morning, okay?"

Naruto nodded tiredly. "I didn't think putting makeup on would be so hard!" He said tiredly slumping onto the table.

"You're not the only one who's tired. I'm going home now, and when I see you tomorrow morning, you better have put your makeup on." Ino growled and walked out of the room. Naruto listened to her footsteps fade, and when he heard his front door shut, he got up tiredly and went to wash his face. "God, what have I got myself into?" He muttered as water splashed over face and smeared the eyeliner.

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R&R, please! ^^


	4. Sunagakure at last!

The following morning was a brisk one, leaves turning shades of red, orange, and yellow all around with birds just beginning to wake up. The horizon was turning from a deep blue to a lighter shade, from pink to yellow, and the village of Konoha was still asleep under the stony gaze of the five Hokages.

Naruto inhaled deeply, and then quickly sneezed it out as the cold air tickled his nose. He was rubbing his nose when he saw Ino and Tsunade, and behind them the massive gates. He sped up, eager to finally start his mission, and to finally be able to see Gaara. Ino saw him coming first and waved at him, her long ponytail swaying behind her. Naruto grinned and went up to her.

"Yo, Ino! How's it going?"

"I'm freaking frozen. How are you?"

"I'm cold as well. I did put my makeup on this morning like you said, but what's the point?" He asked curiously. "I'm going to be traveling for three days."

"I just wanted to make sure you could do it on your own, which it appears that you can, even if it's only halfway decent." She said scathingly.

"I thought I did a good job with it…"

"I'm just kidding, Naruto. It looks good. You'd better go talk to Tsunade now. She wasn't happy with getting up early two days in a row and I bet she doesn't want to wait any longer."

"Oh, yea." Naruto grinned at her again and walked over to Tsunade, pulling his coat tighter around him to shield him from the cold. "Hey Tsunade! You got the papers?"

She reached into her robe and pulled out two folded letters which she handed to him. "One of those is for the Kazekage, and the other is for the border guards. The Kazekage's has a red seal on it, so try not to confuse them."

Naruto nodded and put them in his pack, taking care not to crumple them.

"Anyway, you know all of my advice and concerns so I'm not gonna repeat them. Good luck on you re mission, Kurai-san." She said, reminding him of who he was. He nodded and turned to Ino. "Bye Ino! Bye Tsunade!" He waved at them one last time, and then turned to the gates. He tightened hi head band and confidently strode through them, hearing them creak close behind him. He didn't look back and started running, quickly reaching a fast, steady pace and jumped into the trees above. He went from tree to tree, the scenery flashing past him in a blur of colors.

He thought about what would happen once he reached Sunagakure. First, he would have to change into a clean pair of clothes and redo his makeup, obviously. Then, he would show the border guards his letter that Tsunade gave him which would admit him into the sand as an official ambassador. They probably had rooms for people like him to stay in, but if not, he would just have to buy a room at an Inn somewhere. After that, it was just make it up as you go. Posing as an ambassador would get him into the meetings and allow him to get close to Gaara, but it also had its problems. He would be called to meetings, he didn't know how often, and he would have to attend them, which took away time from his real mission. Plus, he thought, he had to make sure he acted as a stranger around Gaara, bowing to him and all that instead of treating him like a friend. His normal reaction would just to be talking to him like normal, ignoring all the formalities and such. He would undoubtedly be in a lot of trouble if he acted like that this time, he thought with a sigh. Well, on the positive side, at least he'd get to see him which was something. He hadn't seen Gaara in a long time, probably around a year or two. Hopefully he hadn't changed much. Gaara had been around seventeen when Naruto had seen him last.

Three days later, Sunagakure was visible to Naruto. Even at his distance, Naruto could make out the massive canyon walls that hid and protected the village. The only sign that a village was even there was the few small buildings next to the pass that led into the village. The pass was faintly visible as a tall, dark strip in the wall, roughly big enough for three to four men to walk abreast. A faint breeze arose and little wisps of sand arose and blew across the land scape, swirling around each other. Naruto dusted off his cloths he had recently changed into and took out a pocket mirror to examine his makeup, by Ino's request. He made sure there were no smudges, and more importantly that his whiskers weren't showing. When he was sure that it was good, he snapped it shut and shoved it back into one of his many pockets. He checked his outfit one last time and then picked up his steady running pace one again towards the entrance. Even though it was only around 10 o'clock in the morning Naruto was starting to perspire a little from the hot dessert air. Naruto shrugged in his coat a little, wishing he could take it off, but he knew better than that, knowing that he would probably get burned. His cloak flapped out behind him, silver ling lining sparkling a bit, and his hair streamed out, flashing and glinting in the bright sun overhead. He slowed down 30 feet from what was obviously a captain of the guard and went up to him, pulling out his letter from Tsunade and checking that it was the right one.

"Name, please?" Asked the guard in a muffled voice, half of his face was covered by mask, not un-similar to the one Kakashi wears. He was looking down at a list.

"SaitouKurai." Naruto replied, putting up his mask of indifference.

He traced his finger down the paper, looking for Naruto's name. "Ah, yes. Follow me, Kurai-San. Ill lead you to your quarters." He walked towards the Slot in the canyon, calling out to another guard as he passed. "This is Kurai-San, the ambassador we were told about. I'll be back shortly after taking him to his quarters." The guy nodded and Naruto's escort looked at him, still walking. "May I call you Kurai-san? I'm not big on formalities."

Naruto nodded, looking ahead.

"You can call me Kana-Chan if you wish."

Naruto blinked and looked at him. A transvestite? "Chan?" He wasn't able to contain his curiosity.

'Kana-Chan' grinned at him. "I'm actually a girl. I dress like this 'cuz I like fooling people. It's kinda like a prank, y'know?"

Naruto nodded, completely understanding. If he was in his normal form, he would be grinning with her right now and discussing all sorts of pranks he had pulled in his life. In this form though, he just stayed quiet, seeming uninterested. Naruto blinked again as they entered the passage, as it was a lot darker in here than outside. The relief from the glaring sun was quite welcomed though, and even the sand below their feet was a bit damp since there was never much sun that reached inside. The passage went on for a fairly long distance until they finally reached the end, and the large village was before them. All the buildings were made in an identical style, and all of them were made of sand. The sandy streets all led directly to the center where the Kazekage's building stood, bigger than all the rest. A few people looked at them curiously as they emerged from the dark passage, but most were too busy going around doing their daily business, until they were nudged by their neighbors.

As Naruto and Kana walked down the street, whispers followed them and giggly teens pointed at Naruto when he passed. Eyes followed him, blushing slightly if he looked in their direction. Thankfully, he had his shades which offered him some cover from everyone.

Kana elbowed him as they walked. "You're quite the eye candy. You're goin' to be famous around here in no time at all." Laughter was evident in her tone, and Naruto glared at her, which was lost behind the sunglasses.

"Be quiet. I just need to get into my room and then I'll be safe."

"Heh? That's the longest reply I've gotten from you yet."

"Are we almost there yet?" he said, changing the subject.

"Yep. Your living in the Kazekage's building there, see?" She pointed to the center building which they had almost reached. "I'll lead you to your room and then I'll be goin' back to my post."

She pushed open the big double doors and led Naruto down a pleasantly cool hallway. They went up flights of stairs and down more hallways identical to the first one. Finally, she reached a handsome cherry wood door and pushed it open. She bowed mockingly to him, holding open the door. "Your room, my majesty."

Naruto hit her lightly on the head as he passed, examining the inside. The walls were white, like the rest of the building, but there was polished, deep reddish brown, wood floor with a few tastefully placed rugs around the room. There was a king size bed in one corner that was already made with a thick layer of blankets and pillows, and a dresser stood nearby along with a small bedside table. A desk stood on the other side of the room stocked with brushes, ink, and scrolls ready for use, along with a couple of candles standing in little silver holders. A window next to the desk allowed a grand view of the village outside. Another door, not quite as handsome as the first, was standing next in the middle of one of the walls and Naruto assumed it led to the bathroom.

He turned around to Kana, who was still standing in the doorway. "It's pretty nice. You leaving?"

"Yep. My duty here is done. The Kazekage has been informed of your presence and will probably call for you in a couple hours. If ya wanna talk with me, I can most likely be found at the entrance, being captain of the guard and all. See ya!" She grinned at him and closed the door, leaving him alone in his new living space.

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**Reviews make me happy! ^^ If any of you guys have ideas for this story, you can post them or PM me. Id be really happy to incorporate any good ideas!**


	5. Peace is an illusion?

Special thanks to xTotallyEclipsexx97 for helping me think of ideas when im stuck! ^^

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Naruto lay on his Massive bed, staring up at the ceiling. The sand had formed a flawless ceiling, so looking for figures that could possibly exist in the texture was kind of pointless. He turned his head slowly to look out the window on the opposite side of the room where the sunset was visible sinking below the cliffs, a pleasing show of reds, oranges, yellow, and pinks. He blinked in a daze, not seeing the sight that his eyes looked at. His mind reeled as he recounted his meeting with Gaara. He had just arrived! Why did this happen now?!

~Flashback~

Naruto knocked on The Kazekage's door, containing his excitement. He was Kurai right now, and it wouldn't do for him to just charge right in to the Kazekage's office without permission. He heard Gaara's voice from the other side telling him to enter. He opened the door and walked in, nodding his thanks to his escort. He pushed his sunglasses up on top of his head and turned to Gaara who was seated behind a mahogany desk that was lost in piles of paperwork. Gaara was sitting stiffly in his leather backed chair and his green eyes rested wearily upon Naruto, examining him critically.

He gestured to a chair on Naruto's side of the desk with a wave of his hand and told him to sit. Naruto did so, keeping his head down respectfully until he was comfortable. Gaara waited for him and then cut straight to business, taking Naruto by surprise.

"The village of Sunagakure that you see as an outsider is actually not the entire truth. The peace is only a temporary illusion. The villagers don't know it, but we are actually in a spot of potential danger." He said, watching Naruto carefully. "We are not sure of the actual source, but we do have suspicions about it."

Naruto recovered himself and distrustfully back at him. "This is very…sudden. Why tell me this now?"

"Of all people, you should be able to help us, obviously. You're an ambassador from Konoha, which means that you have a special position back in your village, and here as well. Your _position_ gives you the ability to convince your Hokage of things."

Naruto didn't miss the small jibe at his ability and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yes,_ I do_ have the power to do such a thing," He returned, keeping his tone normal, "but I still don't know what you're talking of."

Gaara was silent for a moment, still examining him, and then he talked again. "There is someone who is possibly targeting this village. For what purposes, I have no idea. He is incredibly strong, and I think that only certain people have the ability to handle him if he were to attack. The guards would have no chance against him, and even most of the higher level shinobi wouldn't last either."

"That strong? Surely, even if most of shinobi couldn't handle him, he would still be outnumbered against you and the remaining forces, right?" Naruto asked, disbelief audible in his voice.

"Konoha has been targeted under similar circumstances so you shouldn't have to ask."

"Well, yes…So, um, is there anything you want me to do?"

"Yes. Contact Tsunade and request her aid here. She herself doesn't have to come, but as much of the highest level shinobi she can spare."

Why he couldn't do that himself, Naruto had no idea, but he obliged anyway. "One more thing, Kazekage-sama, who is this person who is targeting your village?"

"Oh, I think that you should have heard of him." Gaara said, a bit of anger appearing in his usually emotionless voice. "I am a bit familiar with him, having run across him a couple of times. I thought he was…similar to me in some ways. I was mistaken." He scooted closer to his desk and turned his attention to the papers on his desk, his face now the usual mask.

Naruto took that as his cue to leave and got up, chair creaking a bit with the movement. The urge to discover the person who was responsible had faded as worry started to creep upon him.

~End Flashback~

Naruto buried his face in the soft pillow and let out a low groan at his bad luck. If the mysterious person came, they weren't supposed to attack for a couple months at the earliest. He had sent a message to Tsunade using the fastest hawk that was supplied anyway thinking that the sooner she knew the better. Maybe she would send Kakashi over to help. That would be nice, he thought glumly. At least he could talk comfortably with one person if that happened.

He was roused from his musings as someone knocked at the door and talked through it.

"Kazekage-sama wishes for you to join him for dinner as you are a guest here. It will be in the reception room you saw earlier in an hour."

Naruto gave his understanding loudly enough for the person to hear and then listened as the footsteps then left down the hall. Well, at least he would have something to do tonight.

Naruto walked into the hall after having showered, changed, and a brief fight against his hair as he had discovered a mat in it. He immediately saw Gaara who was sitting at the head of a large dining table, wearing the same outfit as always. Around half the seats were filled with high ranking officers who were all chatting unconcernedly and laughter often broke out among them. The table was brightly lit by tall candles every foot or so that were placed in decorative silver holders. Gaara saw him standing in the doorway and waved him over to an empty seat next to him, and pointed him out to the officer next to him.

"Ah, Kurai-san, so nice of you to join us." Said the officer as Naruto took his seat. He held his hand and Naruto took it in a viselike grip as the officer smiled at him. As Naruto briefly looked him over, he saw that he was a rather good looking guy. He had evenly tanned skin, from what Naruto could see, and he had brown hair with front pieces that stylishly framed his face while the back was cut short. His brown eyes, however, did not show the emotion that was in his smile. They were dark and confident, but arrogantly confident. They almost seemed to smirk at him as he took in Naruto.

"This is Dageki, commander of all our armed forces, such as the guard and our army if we needed one. He's quite a capable man with that sword of his." Gaara said, noticing the two of them sizing each other up. Naruto was sure his eyes were smirking at him now, though he was still outwardly smiling.

"Nice to meet you." Naruto said, returning the smile.

"If you don't have anything to do during your stay here, I could train with you, but I don't know if you could keep up with me. No insult meant, of course!" Dageki said, giving a rich laugh.

"Of course." Naruto responded, pulling a plate of something towards him. He may have no idea what it was, but it smelled good.

"AS Kazekage-sama told you, I'm the commander of all that good stuff. The best one there is, you know? Except for the Kazekage, obviously. Why else would I have my job? It takes real skill to handle it, organizing everyone, telling them what to do, you know?" He said proudly.

"Do you fight in the battles? Frontline, perhaps?"

"Frontline? Oh god no! What would my men do if I died? No, I cheer them on. I give them a reason to fight. I am the one who provides them with inspiration and motivation. On the battle field, I am like a ray of hope to them!"

Naruto stared at him, chopsticks forgotten halfway to his mouth. Was this guy for real? He glanced at Gaara, but he was ignoring them and chatting with someone else. Naruto resumed his eating and looked back at Dageki, who was looking quite pleased with himself, having made Naruto speechless.

"So you're a…cheerleader…?"

Dageki shook his head frantically. "Not a cheerleader, but a Cheer-Leader, You know?" He gave another hearty laugh at his joke.

Naruto stared at him some more before looking at his plate. "What an idiot…" he muttered, shaking his head at this sad excuse for a guy. Why the heck had Gaara chosen him, of all people? Especially since he obviously had no sense of humor.

Dageki started to talk again but Naruto glared at him, reaching the end of his patience.

"Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent." Naruto said icily.

He spluttered obviously at a loss for words. "You-I never-all my life-" he started to say angrily.

"Please. You've obviously mistaken me for someone who gives a damn." Naruto turned back to his plate and ignored him for the rest of dinner.

At the end, Naruto pulled Gaara aside and gestured at the retreating back of Dageki.

"_Why _did you chose _him_?! He is a babbling _idiot_! He is no proper shinobi! Did you _hear _him?! Talking about his role in battles?! He's a freaking _cheerleader_!" Naruto bushed some stray strands of hair out of his face and was about to continue on when a quiet voice interrupted him.

"It wasn't my decision." Gaara said, obviously agreeing with Naruto. He held up a hand as Naruto started to interrupt, and continued. "He simply appeared as the commander one day, and trust me when I say it wasn't my decision. I know he is not the brightest, Kurai-san. Something is happening, and I'm going to need to help. Hopefully you can help me. May I visit you tonight to discuss this without others hearing?"

Naruto started to cool down and nodded, but boy, was Gaara going to get a piece of his mind later.

Later, after everyone had gone to bed, Naruto was laying on his bed unable to sleep. He was waiting for Gaara to come and explain to him what the _hell _was going on. He shifted restlessly on top of his covers, getting impatient. Gaara didn't have to make him wait this long. A quiet knock at the door startled Naruto and he hopped out of his bed, heading to the door. He opened it and bowed his head as the Kazekage walked past and stood in the middle of the room, waiting to get started. The moonlight streamed through the window and lit up Gaara's porcelain skin, making it glow faintly. Naruto closed the door softly and bowed properly.

"I am very sorry for my actions earlier, Kazekage-sama. I forgot my place and shouldn't have let out my temper on you."

"Its of no consequence, Kurai-san. I too am sorry for intruding upon you this late. Now, get up. We have better things to do." Gaara waved a hand, telling him to stand properly. Naruto obeyed, clothes rustling as he moved.

"Please, sit Kazekage-sama." Naruto said softly, well aware that guards were patrolling the corridors outside the door, but Gaara shook his head.

"I wish to keep this brief. Earlier, when i said that Dageki simply appeared, that's not actually quite true. Its more like he was forced upon me. i had no choice but to appoint him as the commander. He is actually pretty skilled with his sword, but his ego is too large. It very well may be his downfall, as well as his stupidity." Gaara paused, taking a deep breath. "Did you contact Tsunade yet?"

"Yes. right after you talked to me in your quarters. I used One of your fastest hawks, so she should get it soon."

Gaara nodded slowly. "Good. Now, the main problem is that we know, well, basically nothing. All of this, the idea that we are under surveillance, is simply an idea. We have no proof, but better safe than sorry."

Naruto nodded his agreement as Gaara looked out the window unto his village outside. He seemed to be debating something and looked back at Naruto.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, all emotions carefully sealed.

"Sorry?" asked Naruto, a bit nonplussed.

"Why are you here? Especially like that."

His stomach twinged as he began to understand what Gaara was saying. "I'm an ambassador, Kazekage-sama. That's all."

"No, you're-" He was cut off as Naruto interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, Kazekage-sama, but i think you've mistaken me for someone else. I am Kurai, ambassador from Konoha. No more, no less." Naruto shielded off his emotions as he put on Kurai's indifferent mask. Gaara looked at him carefully, and then sighed sadly.

"I'm very sorry, Kurai-san. I was hoping you were someone else that i haven't seen him in a long time. It has been 2 years and he hasn't talked to me once. I'm sorry, but please excuse me." Naruto gritted his teeth against the urge to grab Gaara's shoulder as he passed, lightly brushing against Naruto's shoulder. The door shut softly behind him and Naruto stood motionless, staring at the space where the redhead had been previously.

"Gaara...I'm so sorry! I-I didn't realize...I didn't mean to hurt you..." Naruto whispered softly, a single tear overflowing his moist blue eyes.


	6. Gaara's Plan

The Kazekage sat at his desk, filling out form after form, almost robotically. He would scan the paper, dip his quill into the ink stone next to him and sign his name, and then place the form on the stack of already signed ones next to him. He picked up the next paper and did the same as the last, signing in a bored manner and put it in the stack. The position of Kazekage could be pretty exciting sometimes, but a major part of the job was downright boring. Like now, for example, having to read and sign all of the people's requests. If he wasn't dealing with all the paperwork, then he was attending a meeting, listening to everyone bicker about the smallest problems.

Gaara laid down the quill and ran a hand through his red hair, looking out the window into his village beyond. All of those families, children playing in the street without a care, the vendors selling things to people with too much money on their hands, the buildings crafted so carefully out of sand…What would happen to all of that when they were attacked? His hand clenched as he thought of the unknown assailant out there, the one behind this attack. What was his goal? What did he want? Gaara knew almost nothing of what was going on. Lots of things had happened almost all at once. Dageki had appeared one day, and the council had voted for him to be promoted to commander, without even talking about it much. Gaara had later discovered that someone out there, past the village walls, was plotting against The Sand. A few days after that, Tsunade had sent Gaara a message saying she was sending an ambassador out to keep up the relations between Konoha and Sunagakure, which was fine, until he had seen who she had sent. The ambassador was practically emo, and his attitude said he didn't really want to do an ambassador's job, which was hardly going to help to 'keep up the relations', but the eyes were so familiar. Gaara had been shocked when Kurai had walked in, since he looked so much like a certain bastard that had failed to visit, to even send letters, as he had promised. When Gaara looked closer at Kurai though, he saw this person wasn't that bastard, or if he was, he had changed…a lot. He was wearing makeup, he had dyed his hair after growing it out, pierced his ears, and his choice of clothing was very different than, say, a way too big, bright orange, matching top and bottom that he never changed out of. Gaara had checked if Kurai was who he thought he was, and the results were negative. If Gaara believed him, then Kurai was just an emo, slightly anti-social person who didn't want to act like an ambassador, and yet he was here to help the relation between Konoha and Sunagakure…yea, right. Tsunade was up to something again, but Gaara didn't know what.

"Great…another mystery to solve…" Gaara muttered…

Gaara knocked on the door to Kurai room, glancing down the hallway to see if anyone was coming, but the hall was empty.

"Coming… Hold on a sec…" Was the muffled reply from the other side.

The door opened and Kurai stood there looking at Gaara. Gaara watched his face carefully, but Kurai had put on his usual mask so there were no emotions to be seen that might give Gaara a clue.

"May I come in, Kurai-san?" Gaara asked politely.

"Yea, of course, Kazekage-sama." Kurai stepped aside and Gaara walked in, briefly looking around before turning to Kurai.

"I hoped we could talk. Is now a good time?" Kurai nodded and so Gaara continued. "Why I came here, instead of summoning you to my office is because anybody could be listening there. I've already put up my sand as a barrier against your door, so no one will be able to hear us or come in. I've made a reason for why I'm not at my office if anyone goes in there so we don't need to worry about that." Gaara smiled at Kurai before continuing. "Anyway, what I want to talk about concerns the future attack that I told you about. I was hoping you would consider staying to help us out during that time. Is that possible?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama. Tsunade sent me to strengthen our villages' ties, and so I'm sure she would be okay with this."

"Good. I need people I can trust at my side, since I have reason to believe that the enemy has already infiltrated our defenses. I think they've been planning this for some time now."

"You trust me, Kazekage-sama?" Kurai asked, a bit of disbelief in his voice. "I just got here a day ago, and you don't know anything about me. We've never met before Tsunade-sama sent me."

'Damn…I messed up…' Gaara thought. "I've…got a good feeling about you, Kurai-san. I think you're a pretty good fighter if I'm not mistaken, and you have other uses as well." Gaara gave a small smirk as he realized what else he could use this bastard for.

"Other…uses? Kazekage-sama?" A bit of worry appeared in Kurai's face.

"Yes…With your looks, we could use you as bait, but I'm not sure how that would work yet…When you walked into this village, you attracted a lot of stares right? You distracted everyone that saw you. I believe we can use that against the enemy, I just have to figure out how."

"That's...a new way of fighting…I haven't heard of doing that before."

"I bet if we go outside to the training yard, and start sparring together, we'll attract a crowd before too long. Should we go test it out?"

"That's…I don't know…"

"Hmm? Could it be that you're afraid of some little crowd? I thought you were better than that. Oh well…I guess even you aren't perfect." Gaara gave his head a sad little shake and turned to the door.

"Wait! Heh…you bastard…I guess you're really itching for a fight, aren't ya?"

Gaara smirked at the door. "Come on then. We don't have all day."

The clash of weapons rang through the village as the sun began to set, turning the sky into beautiful array of pinks and yellows. Around the training yard, a crowd was gathering as word spread through the village that the much admired Kazekage was fighting the rumored dreamy ambassador from Konoha. People cheered as hits landed on the opponent and girls squealed in delight as they looked upon the two most wanted people in Sunagakure.

From the village girl's point of view, it was perfect. There was the admired Kazekage that girls chased after and just seeing him in person was enough to make one blush and become timid. Then, there was the mysterious ambassador from Konoha that had arrived the previous day. Everyone had been gossiping nonstop about his unmatched beauty and cool demeanor. How the sun reflected off his long golden hair and his bright blue eyes hidden behind the sun glasses could make one faint. People said that the local fashion designers had been struck with envy by his outfit. The high heeled boots, the artistic use of silver, black, and blue, the perfectly placed chains, and the touch of black in his hair and silver around his eyes. Rumor had it that the Kazekage had also admired his beauty and had offered him a place in his private room. Most of it was all nonsense of course, but people will believe what they want.

As those two glorious men flew through the air, throwing weapons at each other with unrivaled accuracy, blocking, dodging, deflecting, and the other moves that ninja must learn, they were also performing a test. As they fought, they struck poses that seemed natural in combat, to test the crowd's reaction. Gaara wanted to see if they could use Kurai as bait, by turning him into the perfect 'eye candy', and so far, the results were excellent. Kurai was very distracting, to both females and males. Naruto, on the other hand, was practicing poses and seeing where he could fit one in without looking like he was trying too.

"You're not bad, Kurai-san!" Gaara said, dodging one of the many attacks.

"Same goes for you!" Naruto said, launching kunai after kunai.

Gaara smirked. "I _am_ Kazekage."

_'Let's see how you like this.' _Naruto thought. "Kagebunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted. A clone appeared in a burst of smoke. "Sexy no jutsu!" Shouted the clone, turning into a Kurai form of Naruto's normal Sexy Jutsu.

Gaara's eyes widened. "You bast-" He was cut off by the clone jumping onto him and pulling him to the ground, Naruto following. Gaara kicked out at Naruto, sweeping his legs out from underneath him. Naruto gasped and started falling. Gaara was pinned down in front of him, which was where he would normally stick out his arms to break the fall, but he had no other choice, so he stuck out his arms on either side of the person below him and fell on top of Gaara. Naruto's bright blue eyes were really close to Gaara's green eyes, which were wide open, and it took Naruto a moment to realize why, until he felt Gaara's lips underneath his. Naruto's eyes went wide as well.


	7. First Contact

Hey Everyone! I need to know what you all want on this matter: With Naruto/Gaara, should Naruto be the 'uke' or the 'seme'?

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"These are the forms for our security budget. Our overall spending―pass the forms down please―is quite good. We have reached our monthly goal and have some extra money."

Naruto sighed and went back to inspecting his nails. Meetings were so boring. This one didn't even concern him and he had to attend. He found a bit dirt and scraped it off, shifting in his seat. He wanted so badly to just jump up and tell them to get to the important stuff or else let him leave. There was no way Tsunade was paying him enough for this. He deserved to have her treat him to ramen for at least a month after this mission was done. Thinking of ramen, Naruto remembered he hadn't had lunch yet. Maybe he could get Gaara to treat him to some. Wait…he couldn't do that. Kurai probably didn't like ramen as much as Naruto did. Probably. So it was still possible that Kurai liked ramen, right? So then it wouldn't be all that suspicious if Naruto went to a ramen stand, right? Naruto grinned at his logic and looked up at Gaara, hoping to find some sign of way of convincing him to treat him. Naruto was pretty stingy with his money.

Naruto caught Gaara's eye, but Gaara immediately looked away. Naruto frowned and looked back down at his hands, more than slightly annoyed with the way the redhead had been acting ever since last night. Sure, they had kissed, but it was just an accident and besides, It wasn't like he had kissed a girl or something. An accidental kiss between guys wasn't a huge deal. Naruto could easily forget about it if it wasn't for Gaara making the whole thing awkward.

'Ah, whatever…i'll just talk to him later.' Naruto thought lazily. The cool air of the building was relaxing, especially since it was freaking hot outside. He stifled a yawn and quickly checking to see that everyone else was focused on the meeting, he stretched and slumped back in his chair. Before he knew it, his eyes closed and his head fell forward.

"Really…what kind of an ambassador are you?

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he saw a pair of irritated green eye looking down at him.

"...Wha-oh! Right! The meeting!" Naruto scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "heh heh. Sorry about that."

Gaara rolled his eyes and walked out of the room.

Naruto stood up quickly, knocking his chair over in the process, he quickly walked out of the empty room after Gaara. He saw the redhead disappear around a corner and jogging after him called out.

"Wait! Gaa-,no, Kazekage-sama!" He rounded the corner and almost ran right into Gaara. "Oh, sorry…Anyway, about yesterday-" he was cut off as Gaara interrupted.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter." The Kazekage muttered, looking at the floor.

"That exactly what I want to tell you! You've been acting…different since it happened! It was just an accident, right? There's no need to ruin our friendship over it! I mean, we've known each other for a long time!"

Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Friendship? I've only met the _ambassador _who is _Kurai-san_ recently."  
'Ah…crap…' thought Naruto. 'I just killed the entire mission.' "Umm, no-I mean-"

"You just messed up your entire mission, you know?"

"That is-"

"You're just digging your own grave."

Naruto looked up into Gaara's face worriedly, expecting to be thrown out of Sunagakure and fail the mission, but he was surprised to see that there was a faint smile on Gaara's lips.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not going to report you to Tsunade. You can stay here and continue with your mission."

"You know its me?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Of course. I realized it was you yesterday. Besides, how could I not recognize you? Even with the appearance change, you're still the same old Naruto." There was no mistaking it. It was definitely a small smile on Gaara's lips.

"You're the best, y'know?" Naruto grinned and put an arm around Gaara's shoulders.

Gaara's face went red and he muttered something unintelligible.

"What was that?" Naruto asked, still grinning.

"Nothing. Ignore it.."

"Tell me! Tell me!"

"Shut up!"

"Ah...Gaaras so mean...Ooh! How about we go get some ramen!"

"Umm...I don't-" He was interrupted by a hyper Naruto.

"Oh come on! the Kazekage needs to get out and do something fun instead of acting like an old man!"

"Old man...Fine. Lets go get some ramen." and with that Gaara dragged Naruto off to the nearest ramen stand.

Gaara glanced sideways at the happy blonde sitting next to him and frowned. His appearance had really changed.

'Was that his own choice? To be emo? No, the blonde wasn't emo at all right now. But who decided to make him look emo? Was it for his mission? A disguise maybe?' Gaara looked at the gathering fangirls out of the corner of his eye. 'Wasn't a disguise supposed to be more...normal?' he thought with a prick of irritation. 'Maybe he joined the sasuke fan club. They should've disguised him as...a what? A girl?' Gaara choked on his ramen as he saw Naruto in his minds eye running around in his girl form, wearing a miniskirt, makeup...it was a beautiful sight. 'No!' he thought as coughed.'What am i thinking?!

"Are you okay Gaara?" Naruto asked worriedly. "Here, have some water." He pushed a cup towards nodded his appreciation and drunk it, still trying to get the 'bad' mental images out of his mind.

The fangirls chose that moment to come over and they crowded around Naruto and Gaara, giggling constantly. Gaara saw Naruto slip back into his Kurai form and he put on a small smirk, making the girls blush and giggle even more.

"May we help you?" He asked, his blue eyes seeming seductive somehow. Even Gaara blushed a bit.

"Umm, we were wondering if...if maybe Kurai-kun could give us his autograph?" One girl asked timidly.

"Ah...I'm sorry but signing things isn't really my style. Its too troublesome."

"Of course! We understand!"She smiled and inched closer to Naruto, who didn't miss the movement.

"Is there something else you want?"

"Yes! Please...let me be your girlfriend, Kurai-kun!"

'What...?' Gaara stared at the girl and then at Naruto who just smirked again. 'This is insane!'

"Hmm...girlfriend, huh?" Naruto seemed to be considering the deal.

'What are you waiting for? Hurry up and reject her.'Gaara thought angrily. '...huh? Why do i even care? Its normal for him to go out with someone.'

"Sorry...i don't really want to date anyone right now." Naruto told the girl, who seemed to be holding back tears.

"I...I understand..." She wiped her eyes and walked away, trying to keep her tears from spilling. The rest of the girls looked excited.

'What's wrong with them? He basically just rejected them all!'

"You're so cool, Kurai-kun! If you ever change your mind, i'm open!

Gaara clenched his jaw and looked away. Just looking at them was annoying him to no end. Yes, Naruto was drop dead gorgeous, but did they have to crowd him and ask him out? He passed the rest of the meal in silence ignoring the girls.

Gaara and Naruto were walking back to their rooms, when Naruto brought the group of fangirls up.

"Oooh my god, they are scary. They were crowding me and asking me out, even though i told them i had no intentions of dating. It was like I was a piece of meat and they were starving wolves." Naruto said, stretching his arms behind his head.

"You have no intentions of dating? You're seventeen now, right? Isn't that the normal thing to do?"

Naruto glanced at Gaara curiously. "Why so interested?"

"I was just wondering if you have no interests in love what so ever. I mean, you have a small crush on Sakura, but that doesn't seem serious."Gaara stated. 'Right...Sakura. I forgot that Naruto has a crush on her.' He thought.

"Don't be ridiculous Gaara! Of course i'm interested in love! Like you said, i'm a seventeen year old boy, so its only natural. I only rejected the girls because there is no way i would go out with someone like them. Sakura? Well, that was just a childhood crush. I wouldn't go out with her anymore either. She's still one of my best friends though, of course!"

"So..things like relationships are okay with you? What about with guys?"Gaara asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

Naruto gave him a strange look. Then, before he knew it, Naruto flash-stepped right in front of him and, putting his hands on Gaara's shoulders, he pushed him roughly up against the nearest wall. Naruto's face was only a couple inches away and he smirked at Gaara, his eyes flashing playfully. Gaara glared at him and weakly tried to push him away. He didn't try too hard though, as he liked it for some reason.

"What are you doing?" Gaara asked dangerously. Naruto continued to smirk and Gaara couldn't help but focus on the heat he felt radiating from Naruto, the perfect curve of his lips, the pressure of Naruto's body up against his own.

"You interested?" Naruto whispered seductively.

"What?!"

"You wanna try out a guy-and-guy relationship?" Naruto leaned closer, until Gaara could feel his breath on his ears. Gaara blushed intensely and tried to push Naruto away again, but his strength seemed to be leaving him. He could feel himself starting to get a reaction from the close contact. Gaara swallowed. His eyes trailed downwards and then he saw that he could see down Naruto's shirt. He saw his finely toned chest, built from the rigorous hours of training he had done. Gaara looked away blushing harder, and his 'problem' was getting worse. He was sure that Naruto had noticed it by now.

"I-I don't-" He was interrupted by a laugh and he quickly turned his head to look at Naruto who was backing up into a more comfortable distance, while shaking from laughter. Naruto looked up, a big grin on his face.

"Relax, Gaara. Its just a joke. This place was getting kinda boring and i needed to relieve the irritation from the fangirls. Anyway, this is my room here. Night Gaara! See ya tomorrow." Naruto waved and Gaara watched him disappear into the room.

Gaara heaved a huge sigh and set off for his room. 'Really...He needed to go to that extent? But still...It was kinda nice.' Gaara was still walking to his room when he realized that he still had to take care of his little 'problem'.

Naruto collapsed on his bed without changing out of his clothes. What was his problem? He had never done something like that before.  
'Whatever,'He thought, gazing out the window. 'it was just a joke.' But right before he fell asleep, he had to wonder 'Was it really just a joke?'.

'**...ruto...'**

The blackness swirled around Naruto, obscuring the path in front of him. Where was he supposed to go? Gaara appeared in front of him, but he disappeared just as Naruto saw him. All of his friends appeared in a group; Sakura, Kiba,Hinata, Negi, Lee..., but they all disappeared as well. Then, most unexpectedly, Sasuke appeared. Naruto reached out but he dissolved like mist.

'**...ruto!'**

The blackness started to slowly fade and he found himself standing in water, looking up at a pair of massive gates. Something moved behind them and a large red eye, radiating with power, opened.

'**Naruto!'**

"Kyuubi..." Naruto breathed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes, its here at last! Sorry, i had a severe case of writers block which i just got over today!**

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"Kyuubi…" Naruto breathed. "It's been awhile." Kyuubi parted his lips revealing rows of sharp teeth in what might have been a grin or a smirk. Naruto couldn't tell with the fox demon. "What…do you want?"

_**"Interesting you should ask…but yes, I do want something. A…deal, in fact."**_ Kyuubi said slyly.

Naruto looked suspiciously at him, remembering all of their past interactions, most of which had ended badly.

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to make a deal with a demon."

_**"Ah, yes, but that's exactly it."**_ He said while examining his claws. _**"I am a demon, not to mention the most powerful one, and so I can grant you things no human could."**_

"Demons are notorious for being tricksters. I don't see why you should be any different."

_**"Well, yes. I can't deny that we…fool around with humans a bit, but what I'm offering is different."**_

Naruto scoffed. "Different, huh? Well I suppose I can hear you out, even if I'm not going to accept whatever deal you're offering."

Kyuubi did his ½ grin, ½ smirk thing again. _**"Well**_," He said slowly, _**"I can offer you Power. Strength. Control. Whatever you want to call it."**_

Naruto gave a short laugh. "Power, Kyuubi? Isn't that what you offered before and I declined? What makes you think I've changed my mind?"

_**"Ah, yes. I rather though we might be reaching this problem. In answer to your first question; yes, I have offered this very thing once or twice before and you did decline both times. To your second question, well, things are rather different now. Before, you didn't need my power since you had your team as well as Kakashi, not to mention that almost every shinobi in your town would go running to rescue you." **_He paused here to see what Naruto's reaction would be, and seeing nothing very interesting, he continued. _**"Now, as a grown shinobi, you are expected to fend for yourself on your strength. However, as a Jinchuuriki, you have even more potential power, thus higher expectations, but those shouldn't be hard to reach since you have a 'demon', me, sealed inside you ready to offer you that power. What I am offering and what you would be accepting are no different from other Jinchuurikis and their 'demons'. Why we demons offer the power is simply a self-preservation instinct."**_

"Like I give a damn about people and their expectations." Naruto said irritably. "Besides, you make it sound like I'm going to accept."

Kyuubi scoffed. _**"We'll see soon enough, wont we?"**_

"Guess so." Naruto scratched his neck, examining Kyuubi. He didn't particularly like Kyuubi, but as he hadn't seen him in a while, it was nice to know he hadn't just dropped dead inside of him

"So, uh, what do you mean by self-preservation instinct? You're making me stronger, not you, right?"

Kyuubi looked at him for a while and Naruto was sure he was mentally rolling his eyes at his stupidity.

"_**I thought you might have become a bit more intelligent but apparently not."**_ Kyuubi ignored the glare being shot his way_**. "Well, look at it this way. I'm sealed inside of you, so we can you my…'house', as you humans call it. Anyway, imagine being trapped inside your house and it just happened to collapse on you. You would die most likely, so obviously you want to reinforce it, or as I'm doing, make it stronger. Essentially, that's what I'm trying to do."**_

"So you're saying that you are trying to keep me from dying so that you won't die as well?

"_**Glad you understand. So, what do you say?"**_

Naruto shook his head and Kyuubi let out a soft growl of frustration. "What I still don't understand is the danger I'm in."

"_**Even I'm not entirely sure. I know it will be harder for you to deal with than the Akatsuki but…I have a feeling about who it involves."**_ Kyuubi paused and smirked at Naruto, enjoying playing with him. Naruto glared again and Kyuubi continued. _**"It's that Uchia boy."**_

Naruto let out a small gasp, feeling as though he had just been punched in the stomach. "Sasuke?! You're crazy! He wouldn't go and attack a one of the five villages! They're way too much for even him to handle! Besides, Sasuke wouldn't try to hurt me." He said indignantly.

Kyuubi raised an eyebrow_**. "Oh really? I seem to remember that he tried to kill your sensei a couple years ago. He spent his life trying to kill his brother, which he eventually did, and then he killed Orochimaru, one of the famous Sannin! A small thing like friendship won't stop him either. He would've killed that female ninja friend of yours if you hadn't intervened, and there's no saying how many more people he's killed since then. You say he wouldn't try to hurt you?"**_

Naruto knew Kyuubi was right, but he stilled growled defiantly at him. His pride wouldn't allow him to admit that the demon was right.

Kyuubi chuckled darkly, as though he knew what Naruto was thinking. _**"You will need my power sooner or later, and I'll be ready. I'm not willing to risk dying inside of you."**_

"Be quiet Kyuubi! I'm stronger than you think! I don't need your powers!" He spat, clenching his fists in anger.

_**"Control your temper. Rage is what allows me to control you, or have you forgotten? Your confidence is admirable though, even if it is sheer stupidity." **_Kyuubi raised an eyebrow as Naruto bared his fangs at him. _**"Maybe you would make a better demon than I originally thought, Kit."**_

Naruto had a last fleeting image of Kyuubi's smug expression before everything dissipated and he woke up in his bed.

"Demon my ass." He growled. "Like hell I would want to be one." Naruto lay there in bed venting his feelings of anger at Kyuubi until he slowly became aware of a growing pain in his hands. He brought them up to his face and saw small streams of blood trickling slowly from his palms down his wrists. He quickly realized the problem was his nails which had grown until they started to resemble claws and had been tearing though his flesh in his rage. He watched them until Kyuubi's power kicked in and they started to heal. He could almost hear Kyuubi mocking him, telling him he needed him. Naruto frowned and looked out the window. He had had enough of Kyuubi for a while.

It took a moment before Naruto realized what he was seeing. He jumped out of bed and quickly putting on his clothes, moved to the window for a better view. Sunagakure was bathed in an eerie, flickering red light that seemed to be coming from the narrow pass that made the village entrance. He cursed. This was uncalled for and he was in a bad mood after Kyuubi.

_'Oh well. Maybe this will take my mind off that annoying fox.' _He thought optimistically. He moved away from the window just as there was a knock on his door. He quickly went to open it and found a ruffled looking guard standing there.

"Sir! Hokage wants you to meet him at the front of the building."

Naruto nodded and the guard quickly left. _'What the heck is happening? It can't be the attack Gaara was talking about. That's not supposed to be for a while!" _He quickly strapped on his weapons and ran down the series of stairs and hallways until he reached the front doors that led outside. He scanned the crowd of people, searching for the familiar mass of red hair, and quickly found him. Gaara was standing in front of the building issuing orders to the surrounding ninja. Naruto went up to him and kneeled respectfully in front of him to receive his orders. Gaara might not like Naruto to kneel in front of him, but they had to keep up the act.

"Teams 3,5,6,9 and 11 go and investigate the explosion. You will be joined by some guards from the pass. The rest of you patrol the city, except for the ones guarding this building. Dismissed." There was a blur as most of the ninjas disappeared to their respective tasks. "Kurai, you come with me."

Naruto and Gaara were jumping across the rooftops heading for the entrance.

"So, fill me in on what happened. I was…um, sleeping."

"Well, we don't know much actually. I was alerted around 5 minutes ago about a mysterious explosion at the pass. I have people investigating of course, but nothing's been found. We'll have to see for ourselves."

Naruto nodded and they sped towards their goal. When they got there, the place was swarming with ninja, looking for what could have caused such a huge problem.

"Report!" Gaara barked out.

"Hokage-sama, it appears to be caused by a flame jutsu. The marks of an explosive device are not present, and any other possible causes have been ruled out by our special investigation team."

"Do you know who did it?"

"We traced the last bit of remaining chakra and determined it's no one in our town records, Hokage-sama."

Naruto was impressed. "Your people work quickly."

"Of course." Replied Gaara. "It's what they have been trained for."

"Um, Hokage-sama, we do have a suspect in mind…" stated the ninja who had spoken previously.

"Yes?" Gaara prompted.

"Well it matches the records we have from Konoha. The Uchia Clan records, in fact."

Naruto stared. Tobi no longer existed, having been killed years ago, so that left only one person.

"Uchia Sasuke?!" Gaara stated sharply. The ninja nodded. "But that's…well, never mind actually. It's not so surprising."

Naruto looked up at the sky, observing the stars twinkling brightly. He could see the sun beginning to rise in the east. He looked back at the entrance and saw something move in the shadows. Upon closer investigation, he realized it was a…a dog? No, a wolf? What was a jet black wolf going into The Village for? As he observed it, it looked around straight him and its black eyes bored into Naruto's. At that moment, one thought surfaced in his mind.

"Sasuke." He whispered.

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**Reviews for the poor? ^^**


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto quickly turned and pointed to where he had seen the wolf. "Gaara! Do you see that?"

Gaara looked around and scanned the area where Naruto was pointing. "Besides immense confusion and tons of harassed looking ninja, I don't see anything. Why?"

Naruto looked again, but the wolf had disappeared. "I thought―no, never mind. It must have been my imagination."

"What did you think you saw?" Gaara asked seriously. They had just possibly been attacked, and he needed to know everything he could, even if some people thought they were imagining things.

"Um, I thought I saw…a wolf…" Naruto said sheepishly. If Gaara had eyebrows, Naruto was pretty sure he would have raised at least one.

"A wolf? That's odd. A wolf couldn't have attacked us. A disguise, maybe?" Gaara muttered to himself, surveying the chaos. 'Like we need more disguises.' He thought, glancing at Naruto.

"I don't know what it could be." Said Naruto, scratching his head.

"Yes, thank you for being obvious…" Naruto turned slightly pink but ignored the comment. "Well, see what you can find, and report back to me later at my office. I have to go around and deal with this mess." Naruto nodded and disappeared.

Later that afternoon, Naruto was informed that nothing unusual had been found at the sight of the explosion, but why it had happened in the first place was still unknown. The biggest problem, besides the damage and scared civilians, was the reason behind the traces of Sasuke's chakra. It most likely meant that Sasuke or a version of him had been there and blasted the pass for some ridiculous and potentially dangerous reason. Gaara said they would have to start war preparations if another signal of some sort came and the Hokage had been notified. They had agreed it would be better not to involve the other Kages unless it became serious, since nobody wanted The Fifth Great Ninja War to happen, and Tsunade had already involved the fire country by sending Naruto to investigate. Earth Style Shinobi would be able to repair the damage to the pass, and only a few had gotten injured.

So the weeks passed and the village slowly returned to its usual state; with the exception of the ninja. They trained like there was no tomorrow and reviewed battle plans and strategies. Naruto was included in this and joined the sand ninja in their training. He spared with Gaara and refined his techniques, preparing to fight alongside Sunagakure should the need arise.

Despite the recent happenings concerning Sunagakure, Gaara felt rather content for the first time in a long time. His best friend was back by his side and Gaara privately thought Naruto should just stay there forever. Yes, there was more work than ever, and yes, the work load was rather tiresome and stressful, but Gaara could handle it with Naruto next to him. The two of them talked late into the night about many different things, and Naruto soon forgot all about his visit with Kyuubi. The other people who noticed the two of them found it a little strange that the Kazekage suddenly seemed really close with the ambassador from Konoha, but they didn't question it. Some of them were happy that their Kazekage seemed finally happy, and others just dismissed it, seeing it of no importance.

On one such night, Gaara chose to visit Naruto in his rooms for a change. He knocked on Naruto's door and received no reply. Gaara frowned and tried again, and received nothing. He tried the doorknob and found it was unlocked, so he slipped inside. He looked around searching for Naruto and saw he wasn't in his room. Gaara noticed a thin strip of light and saw it was streaming out from under the bathroom door. He knocked and again received no reply so he cracked open the door and a cloud of steam billowed in his face, momentarily blocking his vision. It slowly cleared and Gaara immediately saw Naruto. He was sitting on a stool washing himself off next to the bathtub. He dumped a bucket of water on his head and it ran down his body, rinsing off the soap and leaving a glistening trail in its wake. Gaara blinked. He supposed he should have realized that Naruto was taking a bath earlier. A little voice in his mind told him to shut the door, but Gaara was more preoccupied with the blond. He couldn't help running his eyes down his nicely tuned body, watching the little drops of water run over his stomach. He watched the muscles faintly ripple as Naruto reached for something. Gaara followed another couple droplets until they disappeared under the towel around his waist. Gaara's eyes widened slightly as his mind went into overload, imaging things it had no right to.

He quickly shut the door and leaned against it, closing his eyes. He had no idea what had come over him, and he didn't really want to know anyway. Images of Naruto with only a little towel wrapped around his waist were flashing before his eyes. Gaara crossed his arms and, slightly clenching his teeth, willed them to stop. Naruto was a male, just like him, so his body shouldn't be this interesting, even if it was rather nice.

"Tch. Really…" Gaara shook his head lightly.

The door that Gaara leaned on opened and he was caught unaware. 'Damn.' He thought, as he began to fall backwards. He was caught by a pair of hands before he had fallen far though.

"Gaara? What are you doing here? Were you waiting for me?"

Gaara tilted his head back and saw the familiar face of Naruto. His makeup had been washed off so his trademark whiskers were back. His eyes had a more familiar feel to them without the surrounding eyeliner. Gaara thought he looked rather handsome with his long hair. He didn't have an infatuation with him though. He was just noticing Naruto good looks. 'Yes, of course.' He thought, 'That's all it was.'

Gaara regained control of his runaway mind and stood up, looking at Naruto. "You remember Dageki?"

"Yes. How could I forget?"

"Remember how I said he was placed there without my consensus? The same thing has happened again with a couple other people who have been placed in the military department. Places in charge of strategy, fighting forces, and similar things are being placed in the hands of incompetent people. The people behind placing them there take great care to not raise suspicion. I told you before that Dageki is good with his sword, but he is in no place to command others. I'm sure you understand why. Similar situations are happening. They place people with skill there, so that it wouldn't seem very odd to the common man. The only people who notice are those who are in no place to change it."

"And I assume you can't change it because of the council."

"Right. They would veto any thing I say with clever words."

"Great." Naruto sighed and laid down on his bed.

Gaara ignored Naruto's half naked state and continued. "Whoever is behind this is clever. They are reducing are military power in an inconspicuous way and act through the council. I would assume that they have visited certain members in person and gained control over them. A controlling jutsu like this most likely needs close contact with the original person instead of a clone."

"Well? What are we gonna do?"

"That's what I was hoping to talk to you about. Our ninja have gotten stronger in the past weeks, and will be able to fight rather well if I issue the orders instead of Dageki and the others. The downside is that I won't be able to be next to them all the time as a general would be. If an unexpected situation arises, they would need to rely on their own judgment. As for the council, we can't just oppose them head on. If the members who aren't controlled found that others are, they wouldn't be able to trust anyone. They would accuse each other of not thinking straight when they disagree and they wouldn't get anything done. Normally, I'd say to aim for the controller and nullify the jutsu, but seeing as we have no idea who to go after, that's pointless."

"But…we do have an idea." Said Naruto. "It's Sasuke, isn't it? I mean, they found his chakra at the explosion sight and..." Naruto suddenly gasped. "It _is_ Sasuke!" He bolted upright and his eyes were slightly feverish. "Gaara! I forgot it happened but I talked to Kyuubi! He knows what's happening! He _told_ me it _is _Sasuke! "

"You talked to Kyuubi? He can't have talked to you just to tell you about Sasuke. What did he want?" Gaara said.

Naruto unconsciously touched the seal on his stomach and smiled sardonically. "He offered me power. Told me he wasn't going to just die with me when I recklessly get myself killed. I rejected him of course but…I don't know. Something bothered me this time. It seemed like he was actually sincere…or as sincere as a demon fox can be." He sighed. He had no problem discussing Kyuubi with Gaara since he used to be a fellow jinchuuriki. "Gaara, he told me that…well, I'd make a good demon. He called me kit!" Naruto removed his hand from the seal as though he was disgusted by it.

Gaara frowned and crossed his arms. "He's a demon Naruto. He'll use whatever methods he can to trick you into getting what he wants. His words were probably not all lies though. Kyuubi is the most powerful of demons and the most cunning. To be cunning, he needs to be intelligent. If he warns you of danger and tells you that this…mess…involves Sasuke, he's probably right. He has experience in these matters. As for saying you would make a good demon, he has point." Naruto glared at him and the corners of Gaara's mouth lifted up. "What I'm saying is that you are very mischievous and hot headed. Many demons have those traits, _but_ you do not have any of the other demon traits, such as being blood thirsty or cruel. I don't think you need to worry about being called kit. Kyuubi is just doing what he does best; messing with you."

Naruto grinned at Gaara and flopped back down on the bed happily. "Thanks Gaara! You're the best!"

Gaara felt a warm feeling in his chest and ignored it. He was distracted by another thought that had just occurred to him. "Naruto. Kyuubi was controlled by Madara once, right? You should ask him about that and see if you can connect that incident with this one. Sasuke is probably controlling the council members with his Mangekyou. "

The ever present drops of water echoed in the overly large room. Or at least Naruto thought it was overly large. 'Leave it to Kyuubi to try to be dramatic.' He thought.

_**"So…Finally figured out a little bit, did you?" **_Kyuubi was waking up behind his bars, and of course, was as rude as always.

"Kyuubi, you know what happens outside right? So I shouldn't even have to ask you. Just answer my question."

_**"Of course I know what happens. I don't see why I should be nice to you and answer your question though." **_Kyuubi smirked as Naruto grew visibly annoyed. _**"You are very easy to annoy, Kit. It makes my life in here very amusing."**_

"Kyuubi…" Naruto glared at demon. He didn't know how he was going to get anything done. "Look, this is important. We need to know what's going on."

_**"Important? Ha. You think I'll tell you something just because you say it's important? I basically told you that it's 'important' that you use my power."**_

"Ugh. Just tell me what you know about this entire mess."

_**"And what do I get in return, hm? I can't just go around giving out free stuff, can I?"**_

"You get to live inside of me. How's that sound?" Naruto replied sarcastically.

_**"Not very tempting, Kit. Sadly, I already have that."**_

"I don't like it either, Kyuubi."

_**"So how about you free me and I'll tell you what I know?"**_

"And what use would that knowledge be to me once I've been killed by an angry fox demon?"

_** "Probably very little." **_ Kyuubi said happily.

"We're not getting _anything _done by doing this. Just tell me a little bit."

_**"Fine."**_

Naruto was surprised. He didn't think Kyuubi would give in so easily.

"_**Madara controlled me and so I attacked Konoha. That good for you?"**_

"How about something I _don't_ know, Kyuubi." He said, feeling very annoyed with the fox demon once again.

Kyuubi noted how annoyed Naruto was with contentment. After all, he didn't get much to do down here and the bars kept him from killing Naruto on sight, so this was one of his pleasures he had left. _**"How about a deal then? I tell you what I know and you accept my power when the times right so that we survive."**_

Naruto sighed. "Let's say that I accept. What type of power are we talking about?"

"_**I won't turn you into fox demon because that might get us both killed. I've noticed that villagers don't seem to like me very much."**_ Kyuubi said with a fake air of sadness.

"I suppose massacring villages tends to do that." Naruto said dryly.

"_**Yes."**_ Kyuubi smirked.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the demented demon, but held back his angry retorts. He had information to get.

"_**Anyway, what I would do is leak my chakra into you in a 'non-lethal' form. Your body wont reject it like it did Ino's, so don't worry."**_

"You did something back then, didn't you?!"

_**"Just testing what I could do, Kit. It was an experiment I started a while ago. It had satisfactory results, too."**_

"An experiment? You used me as an experiment?!"

_**"Yes, but that's not the important thing here."**_

"What did you do to me?!"

_**"Well, I slowly leaked small amounts of my chakra into you. It was in a 'watered down' form, I suppose. I made sure not to mix it with **_**your**_** chakra since doing that would give you demonic chakra and everyone would notice. Besides, that wasn't my goal. My goal was to see if I could mix my chakra in to your blood, which would be very different. Doing so would allow me to give you a bit of a demonic property in your body. Your blood didn't reject my chakra and so your body will become demonic if I put in enough. I don't have to water it down anymore, so if I put pure chakra from me into your blood, the effects will be even better. My body rejects anything foreign, so that's why yours rejected Ino's chakra."**_ Kyuubi grinned. He had been waiting to Naruto this for a long time.

"I-I-What? You used me as an experiment?! Even worse, you're turning me into a-a demon?!" Naruto was angry. No, angry wouldn't even begin to describe it, but there was also something else. Fear. He was scared. He didn't know what would happen if Kyuubi continued, and according to Kyuubi his body was already beginning to change. Naruto did _not_ want to be a demonic, at all.

Kyuubi took his time answering. He was glad he had waited to tell Naruto this. His reaction was priceless. _**"You misheard me. I'm not turning you into a demon, because that would be impossible. What I am doing is giving you demonic traits. For example, speed, strength, and cunning would be some of the benefits. However, I have reached a small problem."**_

"God, what have you done to me, Kyuubi?" Naruto put his face in his hands.

_**"If you would listen to me, you would realize I have hardly done anything. I have reached a small problem, as I said. That would be that I cannot continue doing this while you reject me. I need your permission, in the form of a contract, to give you power."**_

Naruto glared at Kyuubi. "Like hell I'm giving you permission to turn me into a demon!"

_**"You are ignorant in you ways! You refuse to listen to what I'm telling because you a determined to be a fool! You **_**will**_** die without my help! How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not turning you into a demon?! I am doing this not because I want to make you demonic, but to keep us alive! If you don't want this life you live, undo the seal and be rid of me! You would never have to see me again!"**_ Kyuubi glared and bared his teeth at Naruto. _**"I am saving you pathetic life from charging blindly into this battle! We will discuss this more after you calm down, **_**Kit.**_**" **_Kyuubi waved a massive paw and Naruto's surroundings slowly went black.


End file.
